Iranian Ships Try to Block U.K. Tanker in Strait of Hormuz -- Update
July 11 2019 - 3:20AM
Dow Jones News
By Rory Jones
DUBAI -- Iranian ships attempted to impede the passage of a
U.K.-flagged commercial vessel through the Persian Gulf, the
British Defense Ministry said, a move that threatens to escalate
already high tensions in the region.
Three Iranian vessels tried to block the BP PLC-run tanker
British Heritage in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday but were
turned away by the presence of a U.K. warship, according to the
ministry.
The British Royal Navy frigate, HMS Montrose, issued verbal
warnings to the Iranian ships before they backed away, the ministry
said Thursday.
"We are concerned by this action and continue to urge the
Iranian authorities to de-escalate the situation in the region," it
said, adding that the attempt to block the British Heritage's
passage contravened international law.
A spokesman for the ministry added that the British Heritage had
since left the Persian Gulf.
BP didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The incident is likely to further spook international shipping
markets and investors and could accelerate U.S. moves to build a
coalition of states to protect commercial vessels near Iranian
waters, after a series of attacks on ships in recent months.
Front-month West Texas Intermediate futures recently were up
0.5% to $60.69, while Brent futures were 0.4% higher at $67.26.
Sepahnews.com, an Iranian news website tied to the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps., denied the unit's forces had tried to
detain the ship. "During the past 24 hours, no encounter has been
made with foreign vessels including British vessels," the
Revolutionary Guard said, according to Sepahnews.com.
Iranian officials have threatened to seize a British ship in the
Persian Gulf after U.K. special forces last week commandeered an
Iranian ship off the coast of Gibraltar. That ship was carrying oil
bound for Syria in what U.K. officials said breached European Union
sanctions on sales of oil to the country. Tehran has denied that
the tanker was headed to Syria and called its seizure illegal
because Iran isn't subject to a European oil embargo.
Iran's threats in the Persian Gulf have added another layer to
the situation unfolding around Tehran's breaches of limits of the
2015 nuclear agreement, from which the Trump administration
withdrew last year.
The U.S. also has accused Iran of attacking tankers in the Gulf
of Oman -- which Tehran denied -- and said Iran shot down a U.S.
spy drone in the area. Tehran said the unmanned aerial vehicle was
inside Iranian airspace when it was downed.
The attacks on tankers have roiled oil markets and increased the
costs of transporting crude and other products in and out of the
Persian Gulf. Roughly one third of the world's seaborne crude moves
through the Strait of Hormuz from countries such as Iraq, Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
BP on Monday halted the British Heritage's passage through the
Persian Gulf over fears it would be seized by Iranian forces. The
tanker was sailing toward Iraq's Basra oil terminal when it turned
around on Saturday and stopped off the coast of Saudi Arabia. The
ship was located off the coast of Oman early Thursday morning,
according to MarineTraffic.com.
The U.S. has worked in recent weeks on a plan for deterring
attacks on tankers that calls for ships from Arab, Asian and other
foreign nations to stand watch in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of
Oman while maritime patrol planes fly overhead.
Military analysts say the threat is clear. The Revolutionary
Guard Corps is equipped to swarm hostile vessels with fast boats
armed with torpedoes and short-range missiles and small patrol
craft equipped with machine guns and rocket launchers.
--Aresu Eqbali in Tehran contributed to this article.
Write to Rory Jones at rory.jones@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 11, 2019 03:05 ET (07:05 GMT)
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